Faint

"Faint"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Meteora
Working title:	Faint
Recorded:	2002
Released:	June 9, 2003
Format:	CD, Vinyl
Length:	02:42
Stems:	LPConcerts Open Labs SoundSlate Pro
Time signature:	4/4
Tempo:	135
Key:	C# Minor
Live debut:	February 23, 2003
Last performed:	October 27, 2017
Writer:	Linkin Park
Producer:	Don Gilmore, Linkin Park
Label:	Warner Bros.
Linkin Park single chronology Somewhere I Belong (2003) Faint (2003) Numb (2003)
Meteora tracklist
Foreword Don't Stay Somewhere I Belong Lying From You Hit The Floor Easier To Run Faint Figure.09 Breaking The Habit From The Inside Nobody's Listening Session Numb

"Faint" is the seventh song on Linkin Park's sophomore album "Meteora". The song was released as the second single from the record on June 9, 2003. The song is renowned for its fast paced beat and powerful deliver, as well as its live performances.

Background

In March 2003, Mike Shinoda did a track-by-track of Meteora for ShoutWeb. About "Faint", he said, ""Faint" is a fun song. Brad actually brought that guitar part in originally thinking that it would be 70 beats per minute or somewhere in that vicinity I think. I'm not sure about the exact number. He played it to a click during Ozzfest and he came back. He and I had done the drum tracks to 140 beats per minute. First he argued with me and told me that it wasn't supposed to be that then I told him, "I know what you intended but I think this works." He listened to it and he totally changed his mind. I just heard something different when I first heard the part so that's how this came about. We're going to skip the lyrics on that one. "Faint" was just a working title that we wanted to keep. I don't know what the actual title would have been but it wasn't that. That word doesn't even appear in the song."

On the Meteora booklet, the band wrote, "Brad came into the studio bus, where Mike was working, to record a new idea. Brad recorded scratch guitar tracks for "Faint" over a click track (no drums, no music), expecting the tempo to be about 70 BPM (beats per minute). He returned to the bus a couple of days later, and Mike had put together the beat at 135 BPM - Almost twice as fast. After careful deliberation, Brad and Mike decided the faster beat was more fun."

As for why the band named the song "Faint", Mike said, "I always struggle with titles. In my process, usually a song ends up having a title because of the lyrics. The session, the file on my computer usually has a different name. On our second record Meteora, the song "Faint", the reason it was "Faint" was we liked the word "Faint", the session title, more than the actual idea of "I Won't Be Ignored" or whatever. Like those titles felt so overwrought, so the idea of using the session title was cooler to us."

In an interview with Yahoo! Launch on October 12, 2003, Mike pointed out the differences between their (at the time two) studio albums saying, "One of the big differences people will notice between Hybrid Theory and Meteora is just simply the use of different instruments, different textures and moods. For example, in "Breaking The Habit" we have live strings and piano, in "Faint" we have live strings. You'll notice Japanese flute here and there, we'll use different samples that will basically create a new mood, create a vibe in the song. The songs still have the Linkin Park sound--they have the dynamics, the heaviness, the things that make it sound like us. But we did try to experiment with different sounds and time signatures and tempos, all these different things just to make it feel a little bit different."

In 2023, Mike added, ""Faint" for example, it was written as a string melody. Then we hired a string group to come play it, then we sampled that." Describing how the song came together, he said, ""Faint" off of Meteora was a bit of a grind to get where it was. "Faint" was not a two steps forward/one step back kind of process, but "Somewhere I Belong" was that process. "Faint" was big step forward, and another big step forward, but it happened over three months. I'd come in with the song and it's like "Oh, what about this, what about this?" And Rob's like, figuring out how the drums should go. And the second he arrived at the thing we were like, "Oh my god the song is so much better now that you added the flavor on the song.""

In an interview with NYRock in May 2003, he also mentioned "Breaking The Habit" and "Faint" as being "faster than any songs we've ever written".

Mike has stated "Faint" is his favorite song to play live. In an interview with O Globo in 2012, Chester Bennington said "Faint" is one of the songs the band can't stop playing: "There are some songs that we can not stop playing. Hardly anyone will come out of a show without hearing our "In the end", "Numb", "Crawling" and "Faint", for example. And it is pleasant to see the audience happy. Of course there are those that we no longer so fond of playing, like "Runaway", but fans love. I do not understand why, because I think this is bad music today."

In 2023, Mike said, "With "Faint," there's an urgency. I think most people go through a version of it when they're growing up: “"I'm not being heard. Why doesn't anybody hear me? Why doesn't anybody see me?" At that time, what we were feeling more than anything was, "I keep telling people my story and how sincere I feel about this thing, and they don't hear me."

Demos

An early demo version of "Faint" with different lyrics and no vocals during the chorus was released on the LP Underground 9.0: Demos CD on November 23, 2009.

In October 2010, fans became aware of alternate versions of three tracks on the LP Underground 9: Demos album. A European WBR promo version of the CD exists, with alternate versions of "Across The Line", and the demos of "Faint" and "By Myself". "Across The Line" had an extended intro, which was just an instrumental version of the bridge of the track, while "Faint" and "Sad" had entirely new/longer intros. These were the longer versions of the tracks before they were edited and shortened for their release on the CD by Mike Shinoda. The acetate CD was posted on LPLive on October 31, 2011 by BPERCY.

Adam Ruehmer, the band's digital marketing strategist, confirmed the legitimacy of the tracks on November 1, 2011: "I have some good news for you. The songs are legit. I finally found the file Mike sent me before we went to mastering. The extended intros are there. Congrats! I'm REALLY confused at how this stuff got put on a promo CD in Europe. Strangest thing ever!!"

In April 2023, Linkin Park released a second demo of "Faint" on Meteora 20.

Brad Delson did a track-by-track commentary of the Lost Demos disc for the "Super Deluxe Box Set" book. About "Faint", he wrote, "Drums & Bass tempo, strings, let's go. These earlier rap verses were inspiring in their own right. That these continued to evolve - into what they ultimately became - shows Mike's commitment to finding the core of the emotion - the truest telling of the story. Mike could have easily been like, "I'm good." Love this bridge. It's ready for the scream. Helf-time feel is fun. Love looking back on how much magic this had, even in this earlier version."

Tracklist

CD Single 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Faint	Linkin Park	2:42
2	Lying From You (Live)	Linkin Park	3:07
3	Somewhere I Belong (Video)	Linkin Park	3:46

CD Single 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Faint	Linkin Park	2:42
2	One Step Closer (Reanimated Live)	Bennington Chester Charles, Bourdon Robert G, Delson Brad, Hahn Joseph, Shinoda Mike	3:43
3	Faint Live (Video)	Linkin Park	3:25

Vinyl Single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Faint	Linkin Park	2:42
2	Lying From You (Live)	Linkin Park	3:07

Music Video

Live Video

Before the final video for "Faint" was ready, a live video of the song was released in May 2003 in the UK to fill in. It can be found on the CD Single 2 for the song.

The video was taken from Linkin Park's performance at the MTV $2 Bill concert at State Theatre, Detroit, MI on March 17, 2003. Eleven songs from the show were originally broadcasted by MTV2 on March 25, 2003 and Mike helped mix the audio for the broadcast. Chester went into the crowd on the end of "Faint".

Music Video

The music video for "Faint" was directed by Mark Romanek and shot at the end of April 2003 with about 1,000 fans from LP Underground, all of whom were 18+ years old. Romanek's treatment was based around the "I won't be ignored" portion of the song's chorus, featuring the band performing and ignoring the cameras and audience until the end of the video. Mike Shinoda told MTV, "We just saw a rough cut of it today and it looks great. We really wanted to throw people a curve ball... I think it's different for us, and it's a lot of live action — very little [computer generated imaging] — and it's real exciting." The video took 2 days to shoot at a secret location in downtown Los Angeles on April 29th and 30th as noted on From The Inside: Linkin Park's Meteora.

The book contains quotes from various band members about the video. Joe Hahn wrote, "This video was directed by legendary film maker Mark Romanek. Mark did an amazing job at displaying the energy of the band through the use of silhouettes and heavy backlighting. The concept of this video revolved around the words "I won't be ignored." The idea being that you see our backs, but the energy is so great that it cannot be ignored. The excitement of the audience really made this video come alive."

Mike wrote, "In a scene that eventually was cut, I wrote "en processo," which means "in progress." "Work in progress" was a reoccurring theme in the Meteora artwork."

Rob Bourdon wrote, "We shot the video for "Faint" in front of some of our most die-hard, dedicated fans. Having them there jumping, screaming and singing along made it so much more exciting and fun than just playing along to the song in front of a camera crew. They helped to make our performance the best it could possibly be."

To promote the video, beginning on Monday July 7, 2003, six Linkin Park "trading cards," one for each member of the band, were strewn across the Linkin Park website as well as radio station sites and select fan sites picked by Mike (one of them being pushmeaway.com). Each card allowed users to see the video for "Faint" as well as view behind-the-scenes footage taken from the featured band member's perspective. Brad's card for instance said, "My favorite moment on the 'Faint' shoot was when the director, Mark Romanek (Audioslave, Red Hot Chili Peppers), surprised [drummer] Rob [Bourdon] by running up behind him and dumping an entire bottle of water on his head. Being the true professional that Rob is, he finished the take without missing a beat." Real trading cards were also given to street team members to promote the contest.

The original ending for the video featured Mike spray painting "En Processo" onto a metal garage. This can be seen in the director's cut of the music video which was distributed by Mark Romanek in an internal review DVD and included in his own DVD titled The Work Of Director Mark Romanek. The DVD contains audio commentaries by Romanek and Joe Hahn.

The original treatment and credits for the video, from Mark Romanek's website, can be read bellow:

Original Treatment

linkin park - faint

the band performs the song in a dark, dramatically lit concert venue. two-thirds of the performance is filmed from behind the band.

we only see their backs -- backs of heads, hands, torso, asses, feet. all the emotion is conveyed through the body language. we may catch slight glimpses of oblique profiles. but, they are just that -- only glimpses. in the background of all these shots we see silhouettes of fans, creating waves of excited movement. we are teased for over two minutes with beautifully composed and dramatically back-lit images of the band – filmed from behind.

during the bridge, chester rushes the front of the stage and sings, screaming into the face of a girl in the front row (still filmed from behind), “hear me out now!”

then, he turns to walk back to the platform, and as mike sings-speaks the very quiet lines (at the end of the bridge) we finally see his face. “i can’t feel the way i did before…”

then, when the song kicks in for the climax, we cut to the band and finally see them perform from the front -- amazing shots of brad, chester, joe, mike, phoenix, and rob performing the song passionately.

we also reveal a dark, strikingly designed and stylized set behind them. (not one so interesting as to distract from the band themselves.)

the tension and suspense engendered by not revealing the band for so long will be riveting. when we finally do, the effect will be thrilling.

this simple concept will resonate with the themes of frustration and desire-for-acknowledgment that the song expresses so powerfully.

© mark romanek / anonymouscontent | 4.15.03

Video Credits

Artist Name: Linkin Park
Song Name: Faint
Director: Mark Romanek
Producer: Line Postmyr
Director of Photography: Jeff Cutter, Rolf Kestermann
Production Designer: Laura Fox
Editor: Robert Duffy
Video Commissioner: Devin Sarno
Record Label: Warner Bros. Records
Colorist: Dave Hussey
Wardrobe Stylist: Franck Chevalier
Post Production Company: Spot Welders

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Studio

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Faint	Meteora Papercuts - Singles Collection 2000-2023	2:42	2002	March 25, 2003	Intro starts at the end of "Easier To Run".
Faint	Faint Broken Dreams II Essential Bands 8-Bit Rebellion!	2:42	2002	June 9, 2003	Full song.
Faint (Demo 2002)	LP Underground 9.0: Demos Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	3:11	2002	November 23, 2009	Different instrumental Different lyrics during verses and bridge. No vocals during chorus.
Faint (Demo 2002)	LP Underground 9.0: Demos (EU Promo)	3:27	2002	2009	Extended intro. Released on LPLive for free download on October 31, 2011.
Faint (Meteora|20 Demo)	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) Lost Demos	3:56	2002	April 7, 2023	Extended intro. Mike Shinoda vocals only. Same lyrics as the LPU version. No vocals in the bridge. Extended outro.
Faint	Meteora - Instrumentals	2:44	2002		Official instrumental version.

Remix

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Jigga What/Faint	Collision Course	3:31	2004	November 30, 2004	Mash-up with Jay-Z.
Jigga What/Faint	Collision Course (Clean)	3:31	2004	November 30, 2004
Faint (8 Bit Rebellion Version)	8-Bit Rebellion! Ringtones	0:29	2010	April 17, 2010	8-bit version. Chorus and bridge only.
Faint (8-Bit)	8-Bit Rebellion!	2:25	2010	April 26, 2010	Full 8-bit version.

Live

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Faint (Live)	World Premiere Of Meteora: Wiltern 3-24-03	2:43	March 03, 2003		The CD dates from March 26, 2003.
Faint Live	Faint (CD 2)	3:30	March 17, 2003	June 9, 2003	Video. From MTV2's 2$ Bill show.
Faint	LP Underground 3.0	3:09	August 11, 2003	November 17, 2003	Enhanced live video. Live footage aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Faint	Live In Texas (Street Team Promo CD) Live In Texas	2:47	August 02, 2003 August 03, 2003	November 18, 2003	Recorded live August 2nd 2003 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX and August 3rd 2003 at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX on the Summer Sanitarium Tour.
Jigga What/Faint	Collision Course		July 18, 2004	November 30, 2004	Censored. DVD only.
Jigga What/Faint	LP Underground 5.0	3:50	July 02, 2005	November 21, 2005	Recorded live at Live 8 in Philadelphia, PA. July 2, 2005.
Faint (Live)	What I've Done Minutes To Midnight (JP Edition)	2:46	August 13, 2006	April 2, 2007	Recorded live in Japan.
Faint (Live)	Minutes To Midnight (Circuit City Edition)	2:44	March, 2007	May 14, 2007
Faint	LP Underground 7.0	4:32	August 21, 2007	December 5, 2007	Recorded live at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ on August 29, 2007.
Faint (29/01/08 LP Live London 2)	Minutes To Midnight (EU Tour Edition)	4:07	January 29, 2008	December 12, 2007	Downloadable MP3. Download codes expired on December 17, 2008.
Jigga What/Faint (With Jay-Z)	Road To Revolution: Live At Milton Keynes	5:10	June 29, 2008	November 21, 2008	Filmed at the National Bowl, Milton Keynes June 29, 2008.
Jigga What/Faint (With Jay-Z)	Road To Revolution: Live At Milton Keynes (Clean)	5:10	June 29, 2008	November 21, 2008	Censored. Filmed at the National Bowl, Milton Keynes June 29, 2008. Despite the "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" warning on the Record Store Day vinyl, all copies are censored.
Faint	Live In Madrid	4:08	November 07, 2010	April 1, 2011	A Thousand Suns+ DVD. Includes bonus MP3 of the show.
Faint	Live In Red Square	4:14	June 23, 2011	July 21, 2011	Released as a prize for the "Iridescent" "Super-Fun Trading Fun-Cards" game. After all six cards were collected, the person could enter the codes of each card at linkinpark.com to get a free download of the full show.
Faint (Live From Hamburg, 2011)	Meteora - Live Around The World	3:41	June 21, 2011	June 5, 2012
Faint	Live At Admiralspalast Berlin, Germany		June 05, 2012	March 29, 2013	With "Tinfoil". DVD only. Living Things+ bonus DVD.
Faint (Live In Texas)	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	2:46	August 02, 2003 August 03, 2003	April 7, 2023	Edited differently from the 2003 release. Live In Texas.
Faint (Live In Nottingham 2003)	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	2:46	March 03, 2003	April 7, 2023	Mixed and edited differently from the radio broadcast.
Faint	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	2:45	July 12, 2003	April 7, 2023	DVD only. Veterans Stadium 2003.
Faint	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	2:50	October 29, 2003	April 7, 2023	DVD only. Live In Seoul 2003.
Faint	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	2:43	June 15, 2004	April 7, 2023	DVD only. Live In Manila 2004.
Faint	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	2:43	August 30, 2004	April 7, 2023	DVD only. Features vocals by Bert McCracken. Live In Denver - Projekt Revolution.

Live

Linkin Park

"Faint" has been a staple for Linkin Park's setlist going back to the first show of 2003, where it was among the first songs to be played live in support of Meteora. "Faint" has appeared at almost every full show since, being dropped very rarely, Download 2014 being an example. "Faint", to this day, is one of the few live songs to feature guests. Starting with the fourth show of Projekt Revolution 2004, Bert McCracken of the band The Used frequently came out during the bridge of Faint to sing with Chester. This was documented on The Used's 2007 DVD Berth. At the last show of Projekt Revolution 2007, members from all the bands on tour came out during the outro of "Faint", since it was the last song of the whole tour. During Linkin Park's surprise performance at Warped Tour, the band had Tyler Carter and Michael Bohn of Issues to come out during "Faint". More recently, Austin Carlile came out during Faint at the Hollywood Bowl stop of the Carnivores Tour, and started consistently coming out on the fourth show of The Hunting Party European Tour. More interestingly, "Faint", for a long time, would be the song the band chose to have fans come up and play guitar on. While this was most frequently done during the Meteora touring cycle, it has been done once in 2007 and a few times in 2010, once in Broadmeadow, New South Wales, once in Western Australia, and once in Homebush, New South Wales. The 2010 Australian tour was the first time the same fan played guitar on "Faint" multiple times, playing at both shows in New South Wales, and the second performance in New South Wales was the first time a fan played bass on the song.

Throughout 2003, 2004, and 2006, "Faint" was exclusively played mid-set. It wasn't until the first full show of 2007 that the band starting making "Faint" a little more interesting. This show was the first, and only, performance of a "There They Go/Faint" mashup, to accommodate a fan who wanted to play guitar on the song. It was also at this show that "Faint" was moved from it's mid-set position to closing the show with a new extended outro, which featured Mike playing the bridge riff while Brad played a solo on top of that. This outro continues to be played to this day. "Faint" continued closing all shows until Projekt Revolution, when the band started changing setlists up for the first time. In Set A, it was moved up to closing the main set, and it closed the set in Sets B, C, and D. These general sets continued being played until 2008. "Faint" was moved into some more interesting positions starting in the 2008 European Tour, though. In Set R and S, it closed the show, as per usual, but in Set T, it was played second, following "What I've Done", and usually had an outro transition into "No More Sorrow". The position of "Faint" in these sets stayed pretty consistent up until the end of the Minutes To Midnight cycle. During the 2009 tour, "Faint" was played as the second to last song in the encore, after "New Divide" and before "One Step Closer".

Once the band started touring in support of A Thousand Suns, "Faint" started appearing mid-set again, coming after "New Divide" in Sets A-1 and A-3, as well as the alternate setlists for the New York City release show and Madrid. Though, it would still close shows and make appearances in the encore. In Set B-1, "Faint" closed the main set, and in Set B and B-9, "Faint" appeared right before "One Step Closer" in the encore. The band debuted several new sets to kick off the North American Tour in 2011. In Set A-1, "Faint" was played following "New Divide", and in Set B-11, "Faint" was played right before "One Step Closer" as was the case in the previous tour. However, "Faint" was put in some new positions in the other sets. In Set B-13, "Faint" opened the show in conjunction with "The Requiem" and "The Radiance", and in Set C-6, "Faint" was played second to last in the main set, with "One Step Closer" closing the main set. For summer and fall of 2011, "Faint" stuck to it's usual positions for the most part. Set A had the song second to last in the main set, Set B and the one-off Singapore setlist had the song second to last for the show with no encore, Sets C and D had the song opening with "The Requiem" and "The Radiance", and Set E and the Moscow setlist had the song mid-set again, with "Faint" coming after "New Divide" in Set E and "Given Up" in the Moscow set.

The cycle for Living Things never had "Faint" closing a set, which is the first time this has occurred since the Meteora tour cycle. For the initial, festival tour in Europe, "Faint" was played third after "Given Up" in the festival set and opened the show with "Tinfoil" for the headlining set. "Faint" was played in similar positions once the band kicked off the Honda Civic Tour, and for every tour after that for the Living Things cycle, as the band didn't change the sets too substantially following this tour. In Set A, "Faint" opened with "Tinfoil". Set B had "Faint" opening the encore for the first time, still using "Tinfoil" as an intro, and Set C had "Faint" second in the set. The shorter, iHeart Radio Festival setlist and the short rehearsal setlist from 2013 in North Hollywood had "Faint" second to last, alongside "One Step Closer". The only change for the 2013 sets, in terms of "Faint", was the festival form of Set B, which eliminated the "Tinfoil" intro and simply had the song second to last.

2014 kicked off with three shows, each with "Faint" in different positions. The first show had "Faint" opening the show with no intro to accompany it for the first time ever, the second show had "Faint" open the encore with intro for the first time ever, and the third show simply had "Faint" second after "One Step Closer". Fun fact, though, the very beginning sample of "Faint" still had remnants of "Tinfoil", as the onboard samples for the song came from the 2012-2013 touring run. At the first official show of The Hunting Party touring cycle, "Faint" was played as the last song in the main set, and remained there for the rest of the cycle. It's been played mid-set for a few, short shows where there was no encore, and it closed this shortened show. Page Hamilton from Helmet joined the band for the song at the Relief Live! event at the end of the touring cycle, and the song yet again closed the shortened show.

"Faint" closed the main set during a majority of the One More Light tour. Mid-way through the tour, the band decided to move it down in the set to close the show, starting at the Southside Festival in Germany, making it the first time since 2011 that the song had closed a show. For the rest of the tour, "Faint" would randomly be swapped with "Bleed It Out" to close the show. At the Hollywood Bowl tribute show, M. Shadows and Synyster Gates from Avenged Sevenfold joined the band to perform the song, Gates performing the guitar solo during the extended outro.

Things didn't change much for "Faint" across the From Zero World Tour. The song kept its outro its had since the Minutes To Midnight era and its usual spot as the last song in the main set. Though, like other older songs in the set, the key of the song was changed to better accommodate Emily's singing range, going from C# minor to D minor.

Variations

Last Updated: November 23, 2024

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Bridge	w/ Bert McCracken	July 27, 2004	September 4, 2004
Outro	Bridge Riff w/ Solo	April 28, 2007	November 16, 2024
Outro	Bridge Riff w/ Synyster Gates Solo	October 27, 2017	October 27, 2017
Outro	Transition Into "No More Sorrow"	January 16, 2008	February 26, 2008
Alternative	Mashup w/ "There They Go"	April 28, 2007	April 28, 2007

Live Guests

Last Updated: August 23, 2018

• Austin Carlile (Of Mice & Men)
• Benjamin Chandler (replacing Brad Delson)
• Bert McCracken (The Used)
• M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)
• Michael Bohn (Issues)
• Page Hamilton (Helmet)
• Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold)
• Tyler Carter (Issues)
• Warren Willis (replacing Joe Hahn)

Mike Shinoda

Mike briefly performed "Faint" during his Post Traumatic Tour stop in Shanghai, China. Mike led the crowd in an acapella version of the song through the first chorus, in response to the Chinese fans at the prior show in Beijing adamantly singing Linkin Park songs for almost an hour after Mike had left the stage. This was the first and only time the song has been performed like this.

Mike joined Sum 41 onstage at the Reading 2018 and Leeds 2018 festivals, as they shared the lineup. Sum 41 had been closing all of their shows on their summer tour with a cover of the song, not including Mike's verses, the second chorus, or bridge, but performing the live extended outro. When Mike joined them, they added his verses in but kept the second chorus and bridge out.

Last Updated: August 23, 2018

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Alternative	Acapella Version	August 14, 2018	August 14, 2018
Alternative	Shortened (1st Verse & Chorus Only)	August 14, 2018	August 14, 2018

Awards and Nominations

Year	Award	Category	Status
2003	Kerrang! Awards	Best Single	Nominated

Personnel

Linkin Park

• Chester Bennington: vocals
• Rob Bourdon: drums
• Brad Delson: guitar
• Joseph Hahn: records, sampling
• Phoenix: bass
• Mike Shinoda: emcee, vocals, sampling

Additional Instruments

• Dave Cambell: string arrangements

Track 1

• Produced by Don Gilmore and Linkin Park
• Mixed by Andy Wallace
• Appears on the album 'Meteora'

CD 1

Track 2

• Mixed by Mike Shinoda, Brad Divens & Drew Mazurek
• Recorded Live During the LP Underground Tour 2003
• Original Version Appears on the album 'Meteora'

CD 2

Track 2

• Mixed by Mike Shinoda, Brad Divens & Drew Mazurek
• Recorded Live During the LP Underground Tour 2003

Track 3

• From MTV2's 2$ Bill Show

Lyrics

Album Version

I am
A Little bit of loneliness
A little bit of disregard
A handful of complaints
But I can't help the fact
That everyone can see these scars
I am
What I want you to want
What I want you to feel
But it's like
No matter what I do
I can't convince you
To just believe this is real
So I let go
Watching you
Turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here
‘Cause you're all that I got
 
I can't feel
The way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal
This damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
I am
A little bit insecure
A little unconfident
‘Cause you don't understand
I do what I can
But sometimes I don't make sense
I am
What you never want to say
But I've never had a doubt
It's like no matter what I do
I can't convince you
For once just to hear me out
So I let go
Watching you
Turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here
‘Cause you're all that I got

I can't feel
The way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal
This damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored

No
Hear me out now
You're gonna listen to me
Like it or not
Right now
Hear me out now
You're gonna listen to me
Like it or not
Right now
 
I can't feel
The way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
 
I can't feel
The way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal
This damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
 
I can't feel
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored

LP Underground 9.0 Demo

Back, before I said goodbye
Just as the first day turned to night
Just as the concrete turned to dust
And the steel turned into rust
All I could think was a new way to dig through the damage
Couldn't think of a way to get through this
Now I see you taking advantage
And I found another reason to do this
I'm digging us a hole to travel through
I wanna find a way to rattle you
You wanna try to hear the thunder hit
You're gonna have to follow me under it
Let go, its begun
Close your eyes, I'm not done
Breath the word, Waste your breath
And keep it up 'til there's nothing left

Now that I said goodbye
Just as the darkness turned to light
Just as the next light turns to day
And the world gets under way
All I can see is the answer to the patient waiting to take this out on the wind of the raindrops
And I waited patiently taking it in
Ready for the first of the face-offs
I'm digging us a hole to travel through
I wanna find a way to rattle you
You wanna try to hear the thunder hit
You're gonna have to follow me under it
Let go, its begun
Close your eyes, I'm not done
Breath the word, Waste your breath
And keep it up 'til there's nothing left

I'm digging us a hole to travel through
I wanna find a way to rattle you
You wanna try to hear the thunder hit
You're gonna have to follow me under it
I'm digging us a hole to travel through
I wanna find a way to rattle you
You wanna try to hear the thunder hit
You're gonna have to follow me under it
I'm digging us a hole to travel through
I wanna find a way to rattle you
You wanna try to hear the thunder hit
You're gonna have to follow me under it
Let go, its begun
Close your eyes, I'm not done
Breath the word, Waste your breath
And keep it up 'til there's nothing left
 
No!

Meteora|20 Demo

Back before I said goodbye
Just as the first day turned to night
Just as the concrete turned to dust
And the steel turned into rust
All I could think was a new way to dig through the damage
Couldn't think of a way to get through this
Now I see you taking advantage
And I find another reason to do this

I'm digging us a hole to travel through
I wanna find a way to rattle you
You wanna try to hear the thunder hit?
You're gonna have to follow me under it
Let go, it's begun
Close your eyes, I'm not done
Breathe a word and waste your breath
And keep it up 'til there's nothing left

Now that I said goodbye
Just as the darkness turned to light
Just as the next light turns to day
And the world gets underway
All I can see is the anticipation
Waiting to take this out on the wind and the raindrops
And I waited patiently, taking it in
Ready for the first of the face-offs

I'm digging us a hole to travel through
I wanna find a way to rattle you
You wanna try to hear the thunder hit?
You're gonna have to follow me under it
Let go, it's begun
Close your eyes, I'm not done
Breathe a word and waste your breath
And keep it up 'til there's nothing left

Gallery

• 

  Disc 1

• 

  Disc 2

• 

  Street Team Sampler

• 

  Promo CD

• 

  Broken Dreams II

• 

  Poster

In Other Media

• "Faint" is featured in the 2010 film Bad Deal.
• "Faint" (in both studio and 8-bit versions) is featured in Linkin Park's 2010 videogame 8-Bit Rebellion!.

Cover Versions

During various shows from her The Best Damn Tour in 2008, Avril Lavigne's backing dancers danced to an instrumental version of "Faint".

Although it's not available on any of their albums, American metalcore band I, The Breather recorded a studio version of "Faint".

Texan metalcore band Wolves Among Men recorded a cover of "Faint" which was made available on their MySpace page and YouTube channel on March 10, 2012.

American post-hardcore band I Take This Oath (now Asylus) recorded a full band cover of "Faint" which was uploaded to their YouTube channel on May 10, 2013.

Southern California based alternative rock band Alorion recorded and released a version of "Faint" as a digital single. A music video was directed for the track by the band Movements and was premiered by Metal Underground on February 16, 2016. Alorion commented, "We chose to cover Linkin Park because for some of us, it was that first bridge into rock music. We also share a similar dynamic with the two different styles of vocalists in the band. We thought it was a great idea to nod to a band that's so influential into what we are doing and why we are here, all while creating something new with a song we love." Since then, the band have been playing the cover live.

External Links

• Faint (Music Video): LPTV | LPTV2 | WMG | VK
• Faint (Demo 2002): YouTube
• Faint (Meteora|20 Demo): YouTube
• Faint (Live In Texas): YouTube
• Faint (Live In Nottingham 2003): YouTube
• Faint (Live In Seoul 2003 Clip): YouTube

References

• http://www.lpassociation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23715
• http://web.archive.org/web/20080513181635/http://www.forfeitthegame.com/notes.html
• http://web.archive.org/web/20080513181453/http://www.forfeitthegame.com/mike-on-met.html
• http://web.archive.org/web/20030412184824/http://www.shoutweb.com/features/linkinpark0303.phtml
• http://web.archive.org/web/20030402043243/http://launch.yahoo.com/read/feature.asp?contentID=212687
• http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/2003/linkin_int.asp
• http://oglobo.globo.com/cultura/linkin-park-volta-ao-brasil-em-outubro-com-turne-de-disco-feito-para-agradar-aos-fas-5678604